Parallel Lives
by Complete the Circuit
Summary: Alagaesia has always been a mysterious place, full of odd occurances. Two more people are about to be thrown into one of these tales. Xander and Evyar, in the mortal world known as Alex and Erik get transported into a story of their own creation... On HIATUS
1. Strange Occurrences Part One

Parallel lives

**We do not own, or will ever own, the Inheritance cycle or any of its characters. They belong to Christopher Paolini. We do however own a toy car.**

**Before you read this story please take a bit of time to read my other story Evyar (also on Complete the Circuit's account) to gain some contextual knowledge as to this story. We're doing interchanging chapters so this is my chapter and the next one will be by Complete the Circuit. **

**In maths today we were presented with questions on all aspects of the GCSE syllabus, needless to say we got a bit bored and when I (Inheritanceftw) wondered what it would be like to live in the world of Alagaesia. Our ideas came to paper and here I am now writing this. Hope you enjoy, so here it is! Parallel lives. Peace out for now guys, gals and dragons =P**

Chapter One – Strange Occurrences: Part One

There I was, sitting at home writing the new chapter for Evyar wondering what point of view to do it from when I received an email from my friend Alex concerning the previous chapter, it said, 'Here's the edited version of your chapter, I'm going to post it now. Goodbye Bakura.' I thought _well I have nothing better to do so I may as well read this chapter to see what it's like and see what Alex has changed. _Therefore, I clicked on the download document button and the file opened as usual, bringing up a word document.

I skimmed through the text, checking what Alex had changed and found nothing much more than the usual – for his editing was good but he did not change anything key to the plotline. As I was about to close the file however, I glimpsed a dot of colour in the bottom corner. Wondering what it was I clicked on this spec of light and it expanded into a picture of a clearing in a forest, light shining down through the canopy, which covered my entire screen. This scared me. I wondered whether the document had contained a virus and had downloaded it onto my computer so I tried to click the windows bar to find it wasn't there; so I pressed the windows button to try and make the taskbar appear but still nothing happened. I tapped the screen to see if the resolution had gone and was shocked when my hand passed straight through. I put my whole arm in then to see what would happen and was suddenly pulled forward by an immeasurable force which dragged me through the screen. Then everything went black…

When I awoke I was in the clearing I had seen on the picture on my screen. I glanced around to see what was around me, there were trees, and then towering out of the ground and from the very trees themselves it seemed came three houses made of elegant wood, more graceful than anything I had ever seen. Looking down at my hands to see if they were muddy, for I had been lying on the ground, I found them clean but paler than usual. Instinctively I reached up to pull my hair back, for I was slightly stressed, to find that my hair was slightly longer and spiked; rather dissimilar to my normal hair-do. Accidentally I let my hand brush my ears: they were pointed. This caused me to jump up in shock, for I then realised where I was standing – this was the clearing which I had created in my story. This was sanctuary, home of the riders.

From across the clearing strode another elf, who waved at me for an unapparent reason. This seemed to cause them some concern for a stern look crossed their face as they walked over to me and asked me something in a strange tongue which I did not comprehend at first until I spoke this language myself. I said "Hello, I am unsure of where I am and some help would be most welcome," But it came out as a jumble of words which I didn't understand orally but inside me it felt as if this language had been engraved into me since a very young age. Then I understood the female elf who stood opposite me. She said, "Evyar? Are you ok you seem a bit dazed?" This shocked me even more and my vision blurred before I fainted.

I was woken by a splash of cold water across my face and I jumped up in an instant, fearing my brother had decided to play a practical trick on me. I was still in the clearing with this elf sitting next to me, her arm around my back in a comforting gesture. "Ah Evyar you're awake again, I was concerned for you sweetie." I looked at her in a dazed manor; she responded to my look by saying, "You aren't well Evyar, you should get some sleep."

"Wait, who are you?" I asked inquisitively.

"You know who I am Evyar! You've known me since Osilon." Then it dawned on me, the elf sitting next to me was Ginerelya, and I was Evyar for that was what she was calling me. I was in my own story. _Oh crap, oh crap. What the hell is going on… I'd best say something so I don't make a fool of myself to Ginerelya. _"Ah yes. I remember now, the glade. Those were good times."

"See you do remember! You're ever so forgetful sometimes Evyar." She chuckled, "It's getting late and we have lessons tomorrow to attend, Eragon's teaching us some new magical spells which I am sure you will enjoy love. Goodnight for now."

"Goodnight sweetie." I said hoping to appease her. It worked for she smiled kindly at me before departing to her house. Once she had left I got up and headed to what I assumed was my house, for I had written the story and knew where it was, and walked upstairs to find a bedroom with a bed which was already made so I lay down and let sleep take me in the knowledge that I was now lying somewhere near the mystical land of Alagaesia.

Author's note: :o I'm back baby. *insert catchy theme music* Well here it is. The idea that has now come to fruition. We won't post this as often (about 2 chapters every month) as Evyar is still my main commitment. Thanks for reading, don't forget to check out Evyar before this too! And peace out guys, gals and dragons =D


	2. Strange Occurrences Part Two

**Well, my first collaboration piece. Here it is. I don't know how this is going to turn out. If you can't already tell, I, the one and only Complete the Circuit, am writing this and InheritanceFTW wrote the previous one. So, without wasting any more of your time, here we go.**

Chapter Two - Strange Occurrences: Part Two

Well, here I am, feeling a bit bored as I do most nights. Honestly, you'd think that something would happen for once. Almost as if some greater power had heard my plea, the attention noise came from my computer screen that alerted me to the fact that I had received an e-mail.

My mind jumped, as it normally does when the little sound plays, to thinking that someone had updated one of the numerous fanfictions that I follow.

I'm not gonna lie, but you could probably call me a bit of a fanfiction addict. I know, I know I've heard it all before. I should be out doing other things, not sitting in my room with my eyes glued to a screen, but you can't argue with some good stories that are well written. And free!

However this was not an "update alert." This was an e-mail from my friend and fellow fanfiction writer Erik, or InheritanceFTW as he is known online. Erik and I had been friends since the start of high school and I was the one who actually got him into fanfiction writing earlier this year. That's right everyone, he may be the one to write them but the brilliant works that are Eraline and Evyar can trace some of their roots back to me.

He was e-mailing me his latest chapter of Evyar to read through and edit. I let out a small groan at this. I had only just finished editing his previous chapter and already, here I was faced with another to check. Oh well, at least its something to do.

I saved the file on the e-mail to the correct folder as I always do and then proceeded to open the document. I began reading through, looking for any obvious mistakes I could immediately put right and highlighting them when I did. As usual not much was wrong; just the odd comma in the wrong place or a sentence I felt could have been phrased a little better.

Having finished reading through I moved my cursor up to the small save icon and clicked on it. A message from LibreOffice came up asking whether I wanted to keep the file in its Microsoft Word format or change it to an open document one. I was used to this message by now and clicked the "keep the same" button.

The document saved fine and I closed the program down, thinking that I would send Erik the edited version. As I did however, another small window opened in the bottom right corner of my screen. Wondering what this was I clicked on the maximize button.

My screen was then filled with an image of a small shelf, high up on a mountain. Below the mountain stretched a wondrous valley, that held a forest, lake and even a rather large collection of houses.

Now, its not that I wasn't intrigued by all of this, and the picture did look beautiful, but I did not know where this image had come from. And with computers, that is not a good thing. I looked to the top of the screen to find the close button but it wasn't there.

Not to worry though, I study I.C.T. at school, so I should be able to find a way out of this. First things first, lets hit escape.

Nothing.

O.K. Ctrl, Alt, Delete.

Nothing.

Great, my computer's crashed again. I got up from my seat and went over to turn the machine off. Guess what! Nothing happened.

This was getting weird now. I looked back at the image on the screen and reached out to touch it. But, when I expected my hand to reach the screen, it continued straight through!

All of a sudden, I felt a sharp yank on my arm and was hauled through. My mind went foggy at this point and my vision went black.

When I regained my senses I felt... _Strange. _I felt, bigger, more heavy than I usually did and my limbs felt very different as well.

I realised that my eyes were closed and so I opened them only to be greeted with a sight that I had not thought that I would see. There infront of me was the rock shelf and valley that had been on my screen.

That was not what worried me most however. What worried me most was the orange snout in the centre of my vision.

I lifted my arm to examine this strange thing only to see an orange scaled forearm that was tipped with a cross between a paw and a hand that held a sharp looking white claw on the end of each "finger."

Suddenly, memories began to fill my mind and I thought of Erik's story Evyar, but more specifically of the orange dragon Xander who was supposedly based off of me.

At that moment, things began to click into place. I somehow _knew _that I was now a dragon. I_ knew _the reason my limbs felt weird was because I now had a tail and wings. And, quite luckily, I somehow _knew_ how to use this body and all of its foreign features.

I'll admit that I was scared, who wouldn't be, but I was interrupted by a female voice within my mind.

_Xander? _ The voice asked. _Xander, what's wrong, you're being a bit quiet. Are you tired?_

Again, somehow, I knew that this voice was that of Vería, another dragon from Erik's story. For some reason I could not fathom though I did not want her to feel worried and I was pretty sure that her finding out that I wasn't Xander would concern her more that a little.

Because of this, I used my mind to answer her _Yes Vería, I do feel slightly fatigued._ At this point Vería's green form alighted on the shelf next to me and began walking over. _Come, _I said to her, _let us sleep here tonight._

Saying nothing, the green dragoness walked over and lay down next to my body, before laying down her head and closing her eyes.

I decided that the best thing that I could do right now was to follow her example and my own advice. So I placed my head on my forearms and closed my eyes, trying to get to sleep and wondering what on Earth, or Alagaёsia, I was going to do about this situation.


	3. Return to MiddleEarth

Chapter two – Return to middle-earth

I woke dazed and staring at a blurred screen. Sitting up I blinked and the screen became clear and I realised that I was still sitting at the computer as I had been when I thought I had dreamed of going to Alagaesia – but for now I couldn't be sure…

Then I realised an item had managed to get into my pocket.

Reaching into my pocket I pulled out a rune stone which had written on it what I assumed, no wait knew, was the ancient language. What was even stranger was that I could comprehend its meaning. It said:

_If you wish to return to our land press this stone and you shall become what you were meant to be._

_This is strange_I thought_ it's almost as if I actually was Evyar… __And__ what about Xander? Surely if I was Evyar then… Never mind, it's probably just a weird dream, I'd better get back to reading Lord of the Rings; who knows what my computer can do… _With that decided I headed upstairs and lay down on my bed to read Lord of the Rings. It was relaxing but I still couldn't shake the thought of whether the dream was actually real. And so I fell asleep pondering what my vision could have been.

When I woke it was morning and time to get ready for school; therefore, I got dressed and headed downstairs to have my breakfast, which was already cooking for I could smell the aroma from upstairs. No-one mentioned anything about the computer which I was glad about, for more questioning would just increase my stress; and considering it was exam season stress was already a prominent thought in my mind.

I had transferred the rune stone from the pocket of my jeans into my school trousers, just so it would be safe – I had a strange feeling that the small lump of rock was more powerful than anything I have ever come into contact with in my entire life.

I was rather bored and still had some time to kill before school so I warily switched on my computer to check if Alex had emailed me anything, for I had sent him the most recent chapter of Evyar. He had replied because an email sat there in my in-box labelled Alagaёsia,which I thought strange.

Opening it I read its contents but this time being careful with where I clicked; but to my shock nothing was amiss! I moved my mouse around the screen, however I still didn't find any oddities with the page. Then I read the email, and this frightened me slightly.

When Alex normally writes emails he was not at all serious and generally liked to claim that the roots of my story Evyar had stemmed from him, as he had inspired me to write fan-fiction, which I suppose is true.

What this email contained was completely different for it said:

_Hello Erik, here is the latest chapter of Evyar edited for you and I shall post it later_

(which he had for I saw the email to notify me of the post in my inbox above this very email)_. _

_However, something else has occurred. I need to talk with you in school._

I knew then that what had happened was almost certainly real, but I needed to ask Alex just to be sure for there were still doubts in my mind.

I headed off to school, rather nervous to say the least for I was either going to make a fool of myself to one of my best friends or I had discovered something that would change my life; for I would not be Erik, I would be Evyar. All the time during my walk to school I was attempting to formulate a plan as to how to explain to Alex what had occurred but, even with my reasonable intelligence, I could not; it was impossible to explain for the impossible had occurred so I resolved to just telling him straight – exactly what had happened.

My first lesson was maths, which I sat next to Alex in and we often talked about things irrelevant to others and sometimes private discussions; as we were sat in a corner no-one really paid attention to what we were saying, therefore, we were free to talk about what we wanted. Today would be the day we talked about going to Alagaesia.

I walked into the classroom and saw my friend was already sitting in the corner, grinning at me in a way that made me rather suspicious. I did not show any emotion back but just went to my seat and sat myself down, acquiring my equipment before staring forward, concentrating on what the teacher was saying. We were both silent for a few minutes, our maths teacher explaining completing the square, before Alex said; "have a nice trip then? Because I certainly did; especially since I met a certain green coloured entity."

Looking across at him in awe I saw him smiling wryly and then I understood what he meant – he had been to Alagaesia, he had met Vería, for that was the green coloured entity – or dragon – he was referring to. I replied to this by saying, "Indeed I did. I met a certain light haired girl also; if you know who I mean." Then I suddenly recalled the rune stone that had been in my pocket. Putting it on the table I said, "Did you get one of these?" To which Alex nodded, his orange hair bobbing up and down making it look like his hair was on fire. Lifting a lump out of his pocket my friend placed a stone with similar engravings to mine upon the table. Reading the text I understood that it said:

_Dragons are magnificent things. If you wish to become your true form hold this stone and imagine what should be but is not. _

I knew that it was not fake as Alex said, "What does it say? I cannot read the ancient language, but apparently I can understand and speak it. I have a basic understanding of the written version, as I know the first bit says dragons are magnificent things. But after that…"

I repeated the message to the red haired boy who sat next to me, whose face turned from happiness to slight shock; he asked, "Can you truly read the ancient language or-" He was cut off as the teacher walked past, before continuing a moment later, "Or are you just making it up?"

"Indeed I can Alex… It's strange."

"Yes. This isn't good news, far from it in fact. For this means that somehow the effects from being in Alagaesia are transposing across to the real world; this is not a good sign. We need to know if this will happen more as some aspects may be fun but others may cause problems." Alex always came up with clever solution to problems and normally wasn't shocked by anything, for he comprehended most articles. But even he was stuck for ideas and could not grasp the enormity of what had, and was, occurring.

We talked about our respective experiences in Alagaesia (Alex going into deep detail about what it was like to be a dragon which I took an expressive interest in) before the lesson was over. I did not sit next to Alex for the rest of the day and so could not discuss any more on our adventures in the world of Evyar and Xander, but at the end of the day Alex quickly caught my attention. Walking over to one side so no-one could hear us I asked, "What is it Alex?"

He responded "I have had an idea. We need to establish a way of recognising each other in Alagaesia, so what we are to do is have some sort of code word system." This was the sort of idea Alex often came up with – short simple and straight to the point.

So I nodded and said, "What are these 'code words' then?"

"I shall say with my mind, 'Hey Bakura guess who' then you go 'Oh bugger' O.K?"

I laughed at the Yu-Gi-Oh abridged reference and said, "O.K. then, see you later. Go in as soon as you get back all right Alex?"

"I shall" He replied before taking on a more serious tone. "Strange things are a foot my friend. Well then… See you later."

I called back, "Bye!" before walking off to find my brother and other friends before proceeding to walk back home via the train as was the norm.

As soon as I got back I went upstairs to lie down on my bed, where I was most comfortable, and pressed the rune stone in my hand.

Suddenly my vision went black and I collapsed unconscious.

When I woke I looked around. Seeing wood above my head I smiled – I was in the house, my house. Getting up I walked across to the balcony I stared out across the forest below, green hues emanating from the canopy above giving the whole area a magnificent appearance. I heard footsteps to one side and looked across to see Ginerelya who smiled at me, causing me to redden slightly; it was not often the occasion that a girl smiled at me in that way.

What she did next surprised me even more, for she walked over to me and put her hand over mine (which was pressed against the balcony railing) and kissed me on the cheek. I reddened even more, however, Ginerelya didn't notice. Looking across at me she said, "You look better Evyar. That is good to see."

I replied, attempting to seem as authentic to Evyar's personality as possible to stop any suspicion from being created, "Yes. I do feel much better after a short sleep." Then more daringly, "Your hair looks very nice Ginerelya, have you done something to it?"

She smiled shyly, blushing, "Why yes I have, thank you Evyar," she said, kissing me lightly on the cheek again.

Then a message came to my mind. It was most strange for it seemed to come from within me but the voice was not mine. It was deep; like a dragons almost. It said _Hey Bakura guess wh__o. _

I replied in utter surprise, _Oh bugger… _

Author's note: well, well, well. Kissy, kissy ;p there's some more of that to come later on, but not from me to Ginerelya but from someone whom I shall not name yet =P Alex knows what I'm talking about L. Thanks for reading again guys, gals and dragons. Peace!


	4. Flight

Chapter 3 – Flight

_Well, here goes nothing_ I thought.

I was lying down on my bed in my house, having walked home from school and talked with Erik. The rune stone was held in my hand and I was gripping it tightly, so much so that I think my knuckles may have been turning white from the force.

I closed my eyes and thought of being Xander again, being a _dragon _again.

Almost immediately, I felt myself beginning to lose consciousness, and I passed out.

When my senses returned to me, I didn't need to open my eyes to know that it had worked. The feeling of power was back and the scents of the mountain and the forest that dominated the valley below filled my nostrils. The other scent to fill my nostrils was that of the dragoness I felt pressed up against my scaled flank.

I felt at peace in Vería's presence.

I opened my eyes but other than that did not move my body. This time I was not scared. Well, not as scared. Now that I knew that this wasn't permanent, I could really get to see what this body was like.

My eyesight had vastly improved, although that wasn't particularly difficult because back as a human I had to wear glasses.

I didn't know what twenty-twenty vision was like but I was guessing it didn't have a patch on dragon eyes. Everything looked better, sharper more clear and with a definitive hint of orange. I think I could even see a deer laying down in the grass about two miles away.

And then there were the smells. Things that had been unnoticeable before were now distinct, and I may have been overwhelmed were it not for the strange way in which I knew how to use this body.

I felt a stirring beside me and it was only a few moments before this was followed by Vería's voice within my mind.

_Good morning Xander._ She said happily.

_Good morning Vería._ I replied in turn, once again for some reason not wanting her to be in any alarm. To make this more prominent I acted on a whim and reached over to her with my head before rubbing it against hers, a gesture which she returned.

We stayed together like that for a moment, the pair of us happy and content, before Vería broke away and once again spoke: _Come Xander, we __should return to the partners-of-our-hearts-and-minds Ginerelya and Evyar. I believe that Evyar's father Eragon and his partner Saphira have prepared some lessons for the day._

Not wanting to argue, I simply agreed and the two of us got up and walked to the edge of the rock shelf where we had slept. I was nervous, but I was extremely careful not to show it.

Being dragons, the best way to get down to the clearing where Evyar and Ginerelya's houses where would be to fly. However, I had only recently become a dragon and had personally never flown under my own power before, the only times being in the air were those when I had flown to Turkey on a plane.

But, for some reason I can only put down to dragon instincts, I was excited at the prospect of flight. The sky looked calm and the sun lit up the sky. In the distance, some small clouds floated by lazily.

Vería wasted no time and simply jumped off of the mountain before unfurling her wings and pumping them hard. She quickly gained altitude before levelling off. The green dragoness must have noticed that I had not joined her for she called back to me _Come on Xander, the air is wonderful today!_

_It__'__s now or never _I thought to myself, making sure to keep my thoughts private. I was still slightly nervous, but that excitement was still there and the urge to jump was almost too strong.

Giving myself over to these instincts I used my powerful legs to propel myself outwards, away from the mountain and into the open air. No sooner had I left the ground than unknown memories and instincts took over. I unfurled my wings and used them, in much the same manner as Vería had, to push myself up into the sky.

Flying felt incredible. There was so much freedom and it was all mine. The wind fell softly over my scales and I used my wings and tail to manoeuvre around. It was so easy, I don't think I ever wanted to come down.

My excitement and pleasure were so overwhelming that they could not be contained and large roar of joy burst forth from my jaw.

Vería flew along beside me and let out a roar of her own, smile over at me afterwards. I looked over to her and was dumbstruck by her beauty: the light catching on her scales made her look so majestic and pretty-

I caught myself before my mind could go any further.

Yes she looked stunning but she was a dragoness! And while I may be a dragon at the moment, I had to remind myself that really I was a human.

It was at this moment that I looked away and saw the a clearing with some houses in. Each house had a rather large balcony and on one of these stood two humanoid figures, one female and the other male.

The male one caught my attention, and the moment I lain my reptilian eyes on him I became more aware of a connection deep inside of me. I was not like the connection when I had talked to Vería, but more as if this person, that is whoever the connection was to, was like another part of me.

I then remembered my discussion with Erik earlier that day. If I was Xander then I had a rider. That must have been what the connection had been. My rider was therefore the elf Evyar, and if what Erik had said was true then he was currently inhabiting the body of Evyar, meaning that it was him that was standing on the balcony. The other person must have been Ginerelya.

I remembered my own plan and realised that it was up to me to make first contact. So, tentatively and knowing I was about to make a fool of myself if it wasn't him, I reached out through this connection and speaking directly to this person I said _Hey Bakura, guess who?_

I smiled and hummed in delight as coming back across the connection Erik answered with _Oh, bugger._


	5. The Ways of a Rider

Chapter four – The ways of a rider

There, stood in front of me, was a huge orange dragon. I was petrified and looked across to Ginerelya for help; however, she was too busy saddling another dragon! Yes! Another dragon that had appeared next to the huge orange giant that was sat before me. I reached my mind out, feeling the sense of emptiness closing in around me, and called to this dragon but only so it could hear _Alex is that you?_

To which it replied in a funny voice _Indeed it is Bakura, what is wrong? _

I sighed a long and meaningful sigh, _I know it's you Alex so stop fooling around, now tell me and be serious this time. Is it you Alex?_

The mental voice came back again inside my mind with a slight giggle, _Yes… Hello Erik. You look different to say the least._

I scoffed and stared at Alex, or Xander as I should have been calling him _I can say the same for you mate! You're a dragon!_

_Yes, I am. _He said proudly, licking a spot in between his leg and his thigh where it must have been dirty before continuing, _You'd best talk to Ginerelya, she seems to be looking at you in a funny way. Besides; Vería said that Eragon had some lessons planned for you two so it'd be best if you got a move on._

_I know, I know. _I replied in an exaggerated fashion, _Well… See you later then._

_You do realise we can keep in contact mentally don't you? _Xander said simply.

_Oh… I hadn't thought of that. _I replied feeling a bit dumb to which the orange dragon shook his head and grinned before taking flight again with Vería. I headed off down off the balcony and into the clearing where Eragon was waiting with Ginerelya; I had read the Inheritance Cycle and had imagined how he looked but meeting him in real life was stunning. The most strange feature was his beard, which he had allowed to grow slightly but it was still well trimmed. The rest of him was as I had expected, elfish looks and brown hair – as was my own – but actually meeting Eragon… I was awed in his presence. He said to me in a stoic voice, "Greetings my son; I trust you slept well?"

I stuttered slightly but managed to say, "Y-yes I slept very well thank you father."

"Good." He replied satisfied by my answer; then enquired the same of Ginerelya who answered just as politely. Now the moment I had been dreading came, the moment that I had to use magic.

I knew the basics from reading the inheritance cycle of course but beyond Deyja (which I understood to mean 'death') I did not understand much else. But I assumed now I was an elf just speaking the word 'fire' would allow me to control fire in any way, shape or form. It was the doubt of not being able to do this that had caused my fear. Eragon quickly explained about light energy and how it could be controlled in certain ways to be advantageous both in war and in menial uses. The elder rider said, "Now Evyar and Ginerelya, I want you to focus the light into a ball of energy, once you've done that I would like you two to make certain shapes with it then put the light into other uses. Is this reasonable?" We both nodded in silent agreement and Eragon continued, "Very well, you may begin."

Walking to the centre of the clearing I rolled up my sleeves in preparation to use magic, I could see Ginerela next to me throwing a smile my way which I instinctively returned. Again focusing on the task at hand I reached into my mind, which was something I was not used to. Searching around I found a bright nub at the edge of my consciousness and tried to break it and access the huge amount of energy I could feel behind its borders. Speaking the words I said, "Light focus!" And suddenly, when I opened my eyes, rays of light shone into a single point and focused there before expanding slightly to make a ball about the size of a dragon egg (for some reason I thought of that analogy then, putting it down to my elfish instincts).

Ginerelya stared across in amazement, "Evyar! That's amazing, how did you do it?"

She looked at me expectantly and I didn't want to disappoint her, it was not I who wished to do this but some other strange force almost compelling me to. Suddenly an accusing thought came from Alex, _You fancy her don't you?_

_No I don't! _I replied to Alex's call. I could sense the truth in those words but I pushed the thought aside and concentrated on explaining how to use magic to Ginerelya. Even though I had never used magic before the explanations almost came naturally to me, which was very strange for it was like a long lost memory that had been surfaced. After another few minutes of telling Ginerelya exactly how to word the spell, as different people used spells with varying success, I stood back and allowed her to practice whilst moving onto the more difficult exercises that Eragon had set us.

The morning flew past as I gained more experience with magic and made steady progress; this I was rather surprised at for it was my first time using magic and even Eragon, sorry, my father, was impressed with my work - which I was certainly proud of. I also got used to speaking with my mind by conversing with Alex about what he and Vería were up to; it was strange feeling someone's emotions but after a while I put Alex's feelings to one side and concentrated on talking with him. One thing I did pick up however, was a certain admiration for the dragoness whom he was with and he often doted Vería on her flying skills, which resulted in me reminding him that he was a human not a dragon, to which he retorted about me fancying Ginerelya which worked every time… But it's hard to argue with a dragon, even if you're bonded to them, and win.

There were some grains of truth in his words, but I put that down personally to one of two things: jealousy (which was very unlikely) or simply that I did and the emotions could be felt across the link. This was the more likely of the two. And perhaps he was right… Her hair was exceptionally beautiful and her face was ever so pretty… _Focus Erik. _I thought to myself and went back to spell casting.

And so the day wore on and we had many more exercises and lessons on things from magic to literature, which I picked up rather quickly, until the sun reached the horizon and we decided to head back to our respective houses; this time Ginerelya giving me some privacy as she did not come to visit, which I was slightly saddened at but I could not comprehend fully why… Anyway I knew I had spent too long in Alagaesia but something was tempting me to stay and as I lay down on my bed I thought not of home but of Alex and myself – Evyar… Alex must have detected what I was thinking as he said _Erik it is best we return__.__ I shall see you tomorrow little one – sorry__,__ Erik. Goodnight and we shall talk tomorrow at school._

_That we shall… _I replied glumly before focusing on home and drifting back to sleep…

Author's note: nothing much to say really :p hope ur enjoying the story and peace out! Shortest author's note ever o.0


	6. The Bond

Chapter five – The Bond

I opened my eyes to find myself back on my bed again, no time having passed from when I entered Alagaesia. This was awesome! I could go into Alagaesia and be a dragon any time that I wanted to, and then come back to Earth again at any time.

I had simply lied down in the clearing outside of Evyar's house with Vería lying next to me and had proceeded to go to sleep thinking of home. Next thing I knew, here I was!

And what's more, I was a dragon! This was incredibly cool. Not only was I able to see smell and hear better in that body, but I was also stronger and I think that my mind may have even been a bit sharper. And that isn't even getting onto flying yet.

It was so exhilarating soaring through the air under the power of my own wings. I felt so free and so totally in control as up there I was the one in command. That was my domain. Lying there, back as a human, I realised that I already missed my other body with its wings. Flying had been so easy and I had never felt better in all of my life.

That good feeling may have had something to do with Vería though. I remember how graceful she had looked and how the light had shimmered on her scales as we flew… She was a fantastic flyer and was so beautiful-

_No. _I cut myself off. _She is a dragoness, and while I may have been a dragon at the time, in reality I am a human. __**This **__is my true form._

Still I could not deny the exhilaration that had been my time spent at sanctuary. And Erik had been there to! It was so good to know that I would have someone to talk about all of this with and not have to keep it bottled up inside.

I suddenly had a strong feeling of shock; however, it did not come from me. Confused as to where this feeling had come from I began to search inside myself until I found its source. This was the same thing that I had felt in my dragon body. This was exactly the same as when I had felt Erik's emotions, it was the exact type of link that both rider and dragon shared.

Shocked myself now, I tentatively tried to reach out with my mind as I had done before, however I felt nothing and I knew that Erik had not felt my attempts to communicate with him either.

This wasn't good.

I had already pointed out to Erik that if things were transposing over from Alagaesia into this world then it could be potentially disastrous for us, and now here was something else. How far would these changes go?

I decided not to worry about it for now and instead wait to talk with my friend about it tomorrow.

The next day was another school day but this time my first lesson was History. This was another time where Erik and I sat next to each other and luckily the class were being set to some pairs work which meant that their voices would cover up ours and so we could talk unnoticed.

The moment work had started both of us turned to each other and I could feel the slightly scared but also slightly curious feelings coming from Erik.

"Have you noticed the bond then?" I asked him seriously.

He nodded before answering "Yes, I noticed it the moment I came back. You were happy about something."

"And your shock must have been when you realised that the bond was still there"

Another nod.

"Let's not panic" I said, trying to calm myself down more than Erik. "We still don't know how far this will go, and if you ask me at the moment it's pretty cool."

"Yeah" said Erik enthusiastically. "I mean, think about it. I'm an elf and you're a dragon! I can do magic!" he continued. "It's so cool Alex, having all of that power at your finger tips!"

"You think that's cool" I replied, just as excited as Erik was, "I can fly! Oh God, Erik, it feels incredible. So free and in control..."

"What about breathing fire?" My friend queried.

I stopped blank. "I hadn't thought of that" was my answer. I mean, I should have been able to for I was a dragon after all. My curiosity and excitement were building even more now. "We should go back tonight" I suggested quickly.

"Yes" was Erik's simple reply. "As soon as we get home."

I nodded again, only now noticing that during our conversation my hand had found its way into my pocket and was loosely holding the rune stone. I wanted to go back so that I could fly again and try out breathing fire. _And it would be nice to see Vería again _I thought idly.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on, my focus being on the time when I would return to my house. The moment I did I ran straight upstairs and jumped on my bed, my hand gripping the rune stone tightly. Before I had even hit the mattress my vision was going foggy and I was unconscious...


	7. Into the Valley

Chapter six – Into the valley

Edging towards the edge of the cliff I peered over the ledge from my position on Xander's – no Alex's – wait… I was confused as to my dragon's identity, but decided to call him Xander, for that was his name in this world at least. Looking down through the valley there was a stunning view from this rock shelf high on the mountain; however, there was one slight issue: I was afraid of heights.

Ever since I was a small child and had almost fallen of a bridge (later to be rescued by my parents) I had been petrified of looking over edges from a great height. If I did I had a strange sensation, as if I wanted to throw myself of the edge… I was not suicidal, I knew that, but I just attributed it to vertigo. And so with Xander insisting to go out for a flight together (I had attempted to argue back and tried to persuade him not to go but he made the point that since he was a dragon he could do what he wanted) this meant I had to fly with him apparently. Not wanting to argue with a dragon I had reluctantly agreed and so the day after (which was today as neither of us had particularly wanted to go back to the real world, which Xander had warned about as he mentioned it may be a problem…) we had risen early and headed off towards the cliff that we now stood on; Xander and Vería flying around each other, my dragon obviously showing off to the dragoness for he insisted on attempting loops and other aerial acrobatics.

_Are you ready then Erik? – I do apologise__,__ Evyar – _the dragon said grinning slyly.

_Well no but- _my last words were cut off as the orange dragon leaped off the cliff and took to the air, diving towards the ground, wings snapping out at the last second to catch an air current and rising gently over the forest. I was scared stiff; just peering over the edge of Xander made me feel queasy.

My friend sensed my discomfort and said, _Evyar, just relax and let your mind drift. I assume you remember in the book Eragon__,__ Saphira shows your father what flying is like? Let me do so for you. Trust me – it will help._

_Okay__… If you say so. _I replied reluctantly before expanding my mind and allowing my dragon to pull me into his mind. Emotions came across, those of joy and excitement; I ignored the feelings towards the green dragoness who had taken off beside us and concentrated on focusing my vision. Alex had been right – dragon vision was incredible. The focus on certain objects was amazing and everything had a slight hue of orange, due to the fact that was his scale colour. After reading Eragon I had not believed that flying could be so amazing but now I was actually experiencing it… It was like everything that had been said and better.

Xander looked back allowing me to see myself and, not having seen my elven body before, I was rather surprised at my appearance. I was rather tall with brown hair, like a dark mahogany colour; my pointed ears were prominent of course and my arms were not obviously muscled, but I knew that I had enhanced strength due to the fact I was an elf.

After a while of flying I released my grip on Xander's mind and came back to my own body. _That was amazing! _I shouted to Xander.

_Yes. I felt just the same when I first came into this body; it gives me a freedom unknown back on earth. We had best be getting back to earth now however, even though I loathe to be parted from Vería… See you tomorrow Evyar._

_And you Xander. _I called back.

Resting my head on my dragon's neck I reflected on all that had happened and of Ginerelya, the fair, sweet Ginerelya. I tried to dismiss that I fancied her but I could not and eventually succumbed to it, thinking of her starlight hair as I fell asleep on the back of Alex – Xander: my dragon. As I was attempting to fall asleep Xander landed with a thud causing me to be thrown off his back, I landed instinctively with a roll and I stood up – looking across to see Xander settling down and falling asleep (obviously sensing that I was going back to earth and following my actions) and Ginerelya jogging across to me, a concerned look on her visage. "Evyar! Are you alright? I saw Xander throw you off and-"

"I am fine Ginerelya." I replied with confidence, "He just shocked me that's all."

I received a large hug from the female elf; after a minute I started hitting her back as I couldn't breathe properly, "I can't breathe! Let go please!"

She stood back, blushing, "Oh… Sorry Evyar. I can see you're tired and you want a rest; you can go to sleep against that trunk over there," She said pointing to an old oak tree.

"Thank you Ginerelya. See you later!" I replied calling to her.

"You too Evyar!" she called back.

With those final words said I rested my head against the tree and lay back, letting sleep engulf me.

I woke to find my mind being assailed by an unknown presence; I was on my bed but I did not know what this thing could be. Reciting a line from a book, as I assumed I had been taught to do and did instinctively, I defended my mind until suddenly I was distracted by a rustling tree outside and the force broke through. It was Xander. _Evyar! Sorry Erik… Are you alright? I thought you had perished and I panicked for I could not feel your presence._

_The mind link is working now… More transpositions… But anyway I am fine. See you tomorrow Alex. Rest for now and if you have any ideas as to these transpositions tell me tomorrow._ And I fell to sleep, exhausted.

Author's note: Sorry about the shortness of the chapter but exams are imminent and I have LoTR to read. I shall post longer chapters after my exams; I have even stopped my other fic (Evyar) for the moment cos of exams. I have some free time on holiday, when I have my computer, for 5 days over may half term so I plan to do some revision and write some more of this then. Expect a chapter from me, not Alex, within the next two weeks I hope. Maybe longer than this… I have already written some of it to be honest. Peace out.


	8. The Fear of Loss

Chapter Seven – The Fear of Loss

I awoke back on Earth and immediately felt terror grip my heart.

The bond that had become so ever present over the last few days, that which linked Erik and I as Rider and Dragon was broken. The bond was still there, however I felt nothing on the other end of it. There was no presence that I had become used to anywhere in my mind.

But how could this be! Evyar had just been coming back at the same time as I had. Surely the unthinkable had not happened? My Rider could not be dead could he?

The cold fingers of insanity began to close at the edges of my mind. My thoughts became tunnel-visioned, the only activity inside my mind was being spent on concern for my partner-of-heart-and-mind; anxiety began to rise until, suddenly, his presence came back.

At that precise moment I could feel Evyar on the other end of the link, and without thinking about what I was about to do, I reached out with my mind and began to try and reach him. For some reason however, the foolish two-legs had erected defences around his consciousness and I could not get in, having to press on them with my own mind.

Again, apparently instantaneously, the pointed-ears' barricades fell and I cried out to him _Evyar! Sorry Erik… Are you alright? I thought you had perished and I panicked for I could not feel your presence._

My friend, rather than primarily acting upon my concerns, took note of the fact that the pair of us were on Earth and yet had managed to communicate with our minds, with words now as opposed to feelings. He replied to me _The mind link is working now… More transpositions… But anyway I am fine. See you tomorrow Alex. Rest for now and if you have any ideas as to the__se __transpositions __tel__l me tomorrow._

I felt his mind drop in activity as he went to sleep. How dare he! Had he no idea at the stress and worry he had just put me through? Still, I could have a rant in person to him tomorrow in school.

My concern and anxiety had gone now and I was able to examine what had just happened more clearly. That had been horrible, not knowing what had happened to Erik. I decided at this moment to make a rule with my friend tomorrow about neither of us going back to sanctuary without the other, or leaving sanctuary and returning to earth either.

I nodded my head in satisfaction and then lay down to go to sleep. As I did however, I realised some things that I had thought during that little episode. Had I just referred to Erik as the partner-of-my-heart-and-mind? Not to mention labelling him as two-legs and pointed-ears? And I was pretty sure that I had called him Evyar as well. I resolved to go over this with him tomorrow, after my rant of course.

The next day I was rather tired as I trudged my way into school. My night had been, to say the least, fretful, my sleep constantly disturbed by nightmares of losing Erik again. Oh boy was he in for it when I saw him.

As I made my way towards our regular meeting place I saw Matthew Smith sneer at me for no particular reason. I could never understand why he hated me as much as he did. I had never done anything to him but for some reason he had decided very early into my school life that he detested me and had been sure to make it known as much as he could ever since.

Because of this constant dislike of me, I had grown to dislike him until a burning hatred for each other and I wished something embarrassing would just happen to him… However, on this occasion I managed to show some restraint and simply carried on walking. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him look slightly perplexed at my action but I paid him no mind.

I soon found Erik waiting for me, and rather than shout at him across a crowded room, I made use of the now more developed mind link. _Do you have any idea how much distress I was in last night? _I questioned him.

"What do you mean?" he replied verbally.

"What do I mean?" I asked him incredulously, careful to keep my voice down. "What I mean is, while you were still in Alagaesia, I was worried sick! It was the most horrible experience I have ever had not knowing what had happened to you. The feeling was one that no Dragon or Rider should ever have to feel, and I was lucky that in this instance it was only temporary."

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry. I didn't know how much distress you were in. I only felt relief across the bond?"

"Well you should be sorry." I told him sternly. "You felt relief because I was happy that you were alive. From now on, neither of us will go to either world without the other all right. It should be easier to set this up now that we can talk using thoughts."

"About that," Erik said suddenly, raising a finger to emphasise his point. "This is another transpondency. I wonder how far this is going to go?"

"I don't know, but last night before you got back, I was a bit strange. I was thinking like a dragon, even though I was human. I was using dragon terminologies and everything."

"We'll have to bear all of this in mind" my friend wisely commented.

"Yes." I agreed. At this moment the bell went and we both headed off to our separate form rooms putting tings behind us for now.

A.N. Ha! See people of the internet. It may take me a while but I can write chapters. Yeah!

Friend of author's note: Just to say to ^ I have already written up to chapter 10 of this story and another two chapters of Evyar in the time it has taken Alex – sorry Xander – to write this. Nuff' said.


	9. The Kiss

Chapter eight – the kiss

Matthew Smith was a person whom I hated with a passion for he was always the one who annoyed me and was the one who thought himself to be better than anyone else. If you expressed an opinion he would always accuse you of thinking that you were always right and if you were nice to a girl he said you fancied them.

First lesson was English, and it was my turn to sit next to Matty. I walked into the room to find him already sat there in the corner seat, leaning against the wall as was the norm for him; he was already busy talking to (or as I liked to think 'chat up') a girl in front of him who was called Helen Davidson. She was a kind girl whom I was a friend of and she was always very respectful of others, she had long red hair which tumbled down past her shoulders and a pale face. I admittedly found her attractive but I remembered Ginerelya and cast that thought away.

I could already see that she was getting impatient with Matthew's flirting and I allowed myself a wry smile _Not so amazing now are we Matty._ To which I felt a strange mental agreement from somewhere that was not my own mind… _That was strange, I wonder- _I was cut off as the teacher started the lesson.

In the middle of a rather difficult exercise my good friend Jim asked me a question about a certain aspect of the book we were studying – Lord of the Flies (not Lord of the Rings sadly). I started to explain a certain quote and what I believed to be one way of interpreting it before promptly being interrupted by a certain Mr Smith. "Erik, you always think you're right don't you? That clearly is the wrong answer-" He babbled on for another minute saying why I was wrong and he was right before he finished.

I was a polite person so I simply said, "Very well, you can think that Matty but I can have my own views as to certain things."

To which he had no reply, so he busied himself looking dumbly at the book trying to decipher its inner meaning; or so it seemed to me, he was probably just trying to read it from the look of sheer concentration on his face.

After the lesson I walked next to Alex on the way to RS as we both were in the same lesson. We chatted a bit about Alagaesia and the mental link, though only in hushed tones, and I told him about Matthew and the whole English saga to which he said, "He's a vicious trouble maker Erik. It _would _be best to ignore him but… Considering the mental link you just told me about. Well, I think we could have a bit of fun if you know what I mean."

I looked at him slyly, "Yes… I think I do." I replied suggestively

After what Alex had said, and due to Matthew's vindictiveness in English, to pry into his mind and see what he was thinking. I had always wondered why Matty had a deep seated hatred of me so with these new abilities I seized the opportunity. Reaching out with my consciousness I searched for his mind and found it unguarded and I entered. The minds of humans are strange things full of uncontrolled emotions and there was one that shone out from his mind above all things – a love for a certain girl whom he was talking with at this very moment.

Contemplating what to do I sent a quick thought, no an idea, to Alex to see what his thoughts were on the matter; he agreed of course for Matty hated him even more than me. And so my plan took place, which I knew I would later regret. I reached into the human's consciousness and took control of his body; it felt strange for I had never been inside someone's mind before and the sensation was rather disturbing but I continued, for the sake of gaining comeuppance for the past five years of how Matthew Smith had treated me and Xander, sorry Alex. And so Matthew leaned forward and kissed the girl on the lips and I quickly retreated from his mind so he could see what he was doing. Everyone turned around and stared at the two of them in both shock and awe before they were separated after Matty realised what he had done. He stood there mouth agape, unaware of what had just occurred but knowing one thing – he had just kissed, quite unnecessarily, the girl he loved.

However, Helen, for that was the girl's name, was not best pleased with this. She was normally a calm and kind girl for she was a good friend of mine but this was the first time I had seen true anger on her face. Her mouth contorted into a snarl as she glared at Matty and shouted "You bloody pervert!" Before slapping him across the face and, due to the fact the male human of the pair was stood stone still, Matthew fell to the ground in shock, grasping at his stinging cheek. Quickly running over to her I asked out of comfort, trying to regain myself for humiliating her slightly, "Are you alright Helen?" I felt bad asking this for I was the one who had caused Matty to do it but instinctively I felt friendship take over and make me come to her aid.

She struggled for words and said, "I…I don't think so." Before collapsing on my shoulder sobbing. If this had happened before my travels to Alagaesia I would not have known what to do but now, due to my experience, I let her stand there – my hand resting on the back of her head consoling her. Everyone looked at us but I didn't care, all I cared about was my guiltiness and Helen's feelings which I had greatly disrupted. I felt a slight guilt come from Alex but the overall reaction was of gladness at embarrassing Matthew Smith and hopefully changing him for the better, as Eragon had done for Sloan. I decided to talk to Helen more later but for now I had to talk to Alex and decide whether it had truly been a good idea to do what we had just done…

Once the brouhaha had died down everyone entered the lesson, and being RS there were several sighs as people entered, and took their seats – Helen's eyes still noticeably red from crying so I gave her a friendly smile, which she returned gratefully. I did not see her for the rest of the day except for fleeting glances when we were in lessons or walked past each other in the corridor; I spoke with Alex about the 'incident' and said it would not be best to tell Helen, not out of selfishness but out of secrecy for if our secret was spread about it would not fare well for anyone.

The end of the day came and as usual I and Alex arranged to meet in Alagaesia so we said goodbye and parted our own ways until we met at sanctuary. However, just as I was about to go and meet up with my brother to walk back from school someone tapped me on the shoulder – it was Helen. "Hey Erik, I just wanted to say thanks for earlier… I was so embarrassed and-"

I cut her off by accident in order to apologise, "It's fine Helen. That's what friends are for eh?" She started laughing, "Really just don't worry about it, if you need any help I'll be there for you."

She reddened slightly, "Aww that's so sweet of you Erik. You seemed to have become a lot more confident lately, I always remember you used to be so shy. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing! It's just you've _changed_."

I was slightly worried by her sudden suspicion and decided to avert her concerns, "Yes. I have, though it is just down to simply being confident in myself that is all. I'm glad that you think I've changed for the better, it… it means a lot."

I started to go red and Helen giggled, "Oh Erik, you've gone red. Anyway I've rambled on for long enough and I'd best be off see you Erik."

"Bye Helen," I replied instinctively before shouting, "Wait a second!"

The young red haired girl turned in surprise, "What is it Erik?"

"Well… I… well…"

She looked at me curiously, "What is it Erik? Cat got your tongue?"

I almost had the temptation to correct her and say were-cat but I thought better of it. Gathering my confidence I said rather quickly, "Would you want to go out to the park at the weekend? Or… If you don't want to that's fine if you're busy."

"Of course Erik! All you needed to do is ask; before today I would have not certainly said yes if you had asked me but after all the kindness you've shown me I think it's only right to show you some in return."

"Ok. What time then?" I continued.

"Well about 3 o'clock ish on saturday would be fine by me, is that okay with you?"

"Indeed it is, I'll see you then Helen. Bye for now!"

"Bye Erik, see you on Saturday!" She called back walking away, throwing a friendly smile to me which I returned before I jogged to catch up with my brother who was waiting impatiently, I was whistling a merry tune all the while.

I arrived home and jumped onto my bed and gripped the rune stone as normal, _I'm going to have a lot to say to Xander, _I thought wryly as my vision faded and I returned to the fantastical world of Alagaesia.

Author's note: hmm… Something strange is afoot. This chapter is more than 1k words! Wow, I'm rather amazed by that to be honest. Well if you've read my other fic (Evyar) you'll understand the were-cat reference, I just had to get that in there and I couldn't resist. As for Lord of the Rings… Well I'm reading it at the moment and they've reached Rivendell and are about to set off, the chapters are rather long but it's still a great read; I highly recommend it. Anyway I've rambled almost as much as Helen did, peace out guys, gals and dragons!


	10. Rivalry and Sport

Chapter Nine – Rivalry and Sport

Oh great. P.E. One of my least favourite lessons. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I actually welcomed the break from academic work, it's just that I'm not very, well how to put this, good. Never really have been. Erik was alright but far from the best and I was pretty poor.

We always were picked towards the end of the teams, Erik earlier than me. I was the kind of athlete who was chosen not on my merit, but because I was a better choice than other players, like Liam Mercy.

And as was the norm, here I was again, among the last to be picked. The game was football, and no I don't mean American football, I'm talking about the proper English version, what Americans would call soccer. Erik had already been picked. He was on the same team as some of our other friends Andrew Pearson and James Bob. James was a good footballer, playing for a small team, but Andrew generally adopted the same tactic I normally did: Hit the ball as far as you can towards the general direction of the other team's goal.

Also on Erik's team was Matthew Smith.

"Alex" I heard James call. He was captain of our team and so was the one picking players. I walked over to the team and stood next to Erik.

"Okay then, we'll have Liam" announced Josh Simons, the heavily built and rough playing captain of the other team. Liam waddled over and picked up the bib that was offered to him.

"Right then Alex, you're in goal. Erik and Andy are defence. Matty, you attack and I'll just run around and help where I can if the ball comes somewhere near me." James told us all as we walked over to our pitch.

_Ah, a brilliant tactic James. It's completely different to the one we've used the last five times we've__ played. And we know how well it's worked then. _I broadcast to Erik.

_Indeed._ My friend replied.

"Oi!" shouted Matthew over at us. "Everyone stay out of my way, especially you two." He pointed at Erik and I with a glare and a snarl on his face.

_God I __wish I was a dragon right now and I could give him a real snarl right __back. _I thought.

_I would like to see that. _Erik answered swiftly, a smile now on his face. _But I think we've already done enough damage for now what with English the other day._

_Speaking of that, congratulations on your date with Helen, I hope it goes well._

"Thanks" Erik responded, this time out loud.

As the game started we took our positions. This time however, for me something was different the desire to win was a lot stronger than normal. I would not accept anything other than a win. I think Erik felt my feelings on this and he looked over his shoulder at me, slight curiosity coming from him.

Not much happened for a while, with neither side doing much and the ball just being knocked around midfield. Then Josh Simons managed to barge his way past James to make a run at goal with the ball. Matthew was sprinting back to help defend as fast as he could but it was evident that he would not make it in time.

Andy was of no use either and Erik was running over to try and intercept Josh and I was at one side of the goal so that I was level with the attacking player. I maintain to this day that strategically speaking, Josh's best option was to take the ball around Erik and then take an easy shot one on one with me. However, maybe my eagerness to win had rubbed of on Erik as something about the way he carried himself caused Josh to slow his attack and take a power shot right towards the top opposite corner of the goal from where I was.

With speed and strength I did not know I possessed I leapt across the face of goal with my arms outstretched. I secured the ball within my grasp and held it to my chest before landing with a forward roll and coming to a crouching halt.

I looked up to see that all the other players had stopped and were ooking at me in awe.

"Nice save!" shouted James, sounding slightly bewildered.

I noticed here that every player except the goalkeeper of the other team was gathered in our half of the pitch. Thinking quickly I souted "Somebody get up-field.

Emerging from my crouch I gently threw the ball in front of me before kicking it up towards the other end of the field. To my and indeed everyone else's amazement, even though it was travelling against the wind, the ball rocketed into the final quarter of the pitch and near the other team's goal.

What was more amazing however was that Matthew and Erik had both taken off after I had kicked the ball. Matthew had only just reached the half way line but Erik, by some miracle had managed to get to the ball before it had even landed.

He then skilfully controlled it and tapped it around the goalkeeper and into the goal.

No sooner had he done this that the teacher blew the final whistle and the game ended.

I could hardly believe it. We had won! I smiled smugly, extremely satisfied at this but then another thought struck me. Since when had I been able to react that fast and precisely? Or kick the ball that far?

And come to think of it, when had Erik ever ran the length of the pitch in about 7 seconds before, and not even look tired afterwards?

These events, and the mind link had me worried for a moment, but I was interrupted as the teacher called over to Erik and I to wait for a moment.

"Boys" he said "There's a football tournament on that the school has entered next week. Would either of you be interested in playing?"

After a quick mental discussion with Erik I answered back "Can we think about it over the weekend and give you an answer on Monday?"

"Sure thing" he replied, before we moved off to go get changed for our next lesson.

As we were walking back Erik asked excitedly "did you see that!"

"Yes" I replied slightly forlornly.

"Why are you feeling worried?" my friend asked me.

"Because," I reponded "If I've suddenly got strength that is way beyond normal human level, and you have the speed of an elf, how far are these changes going to go?"


	11. Accusations

Chapter ten – accusations

There I was, sat on the park bench waiting for Helen. It was Saturday and the time was 3 o'clock, the time we had specified for the date which, to be honest, I had been rather nervous about. So nervous that I had not slept the night before after returning from Alagaesia and I spent a long time brooding about what had occurred since finding the rune stones. _I've almost become a __gary-stu_I thought wryly, grinning at the fan fiction references.

I waited for the better part of ten minutes before I saw a shock of red hair coming from round the corner – it was Helen who was clad in a pair of tight jeans and a loose fitting white shirt. _She is rather beautiful, for a human. _I thought, surprised at my mind thinking so _I have certainly changed a lot… So has Alex. Being a dragon must be very strange for him._

I got up from my seat and smiled at Helen as she walked over; when she caught up with me we took each other hand in hand and walked off through the large park towards the centre of town. On the way we talked of many things, about our interests, plans for the future and other general banter. But then suddenly after about five minutes of walking she asked me something that shocked me slightly, and Alex too. "Erik, I heard about the PE lesson the other day and how you and Alex beat everyone. Not to offend you but you've never been the most sporty person ever so I would like to know what happened for friend's sake if anything else."

_Oh bugger she's onto us Alex. _I said, sending him a mental message which I knew he would reply to rapidly for I could sense him listening on the conversation.

The reply was fast _We need to get her off the scent. No-one can know of Alagaesia and the power it contains Erik. _I could sense him thinking of a plan, _Just say that we've both been going to the gym; we're not going to be able to get rid of her suspicion but we can certainly divert it elsewhere._

_Thank you Alex; I don't know how I could survive without you. _I said wryly, there was no reply but I could feel my friend's embarrassment at the flattery.

"Well? What happened Erik?" She asked again, turning me around to her my hands in hers and looked me straight in the eyes. The gaze was hard to avoid and I almost submitted, but then I remembered that if I told her then she could not remain on earth…

I answered slowly, "Me and Alex have been going to the gym and exercising recently quite a bit, for we thought it time we got in shape. It seems to have been quite effective."

She looked at me thoughtfully as if looking straight into my mind before leaning back in my hands and saying, "I believe you Erik, we have to trust each other after all don't we?" she smiled at me, a king knowing smile which I returned before we both turned back towards the centre of the town and continued our conversation.

It was nice to find someone who I could speak freely with, which is what Helen provided. We both enjoyed horse riding, well I enjoyed dragon riding of course but I didn't say that; and were both keen academics. One thing we did share though was a sense of humour, we often made each other laugh; we spent some time doing this whilst walking through the entrance to the park, Helen almost falling into someone she was laughing so hard at something I'd said.

As we walked past a café I asked her, "Fancy going to get something to eat?"

"Sure, let's go and see what they've got." She said, taking my hand and leading me across to the entrance. When we went in there, sat at a table, with another boy from my year, was Matthew Smith. I tried to avoid his gaze but he spotted me and started glaring at me and Helen as we sat down nervously and waited to order.

I sensed movement behind me and I felt a warning come from Alex, _careful Erik, don't get yourself into trouble._

_Don't worry Xander – sorry Alex – I won't. Only if he creates it._

I could feel worry emanating from my friend and so was a bit worried when Matthew Smith approached me and said in a mocking tone, "If it isn't the ginger and the beast. Well, well it's quite a coincidence that both of you are here isn't it? Both here together that is, since you beat me in that race Erik. I think I shall right that wrong." He began to roll up his sleeves and I prepared for trouble as I saw his friend come from over the other side of the café. I got up also, standing between Matty and Helen so as to stop him from attacking her; I did not roll up my sleeves however, for I knew I could easily beat him with my enhanced strength but I had to be careful not to kill him – that would not be a good thing…

Standing off against the two boys, whom the owner of the café did not seem to care about for he, or she, was nowhere to be seen. Matthew attacked first, swinging at my right cheek; I quickly brought up my arm and blocked the blow with my forearm, whilst he attempted to punch my chest, which I again blocked with ease. Next his friend came from behind and tried to restrain me; it wasn't effective for I just threw him off backwards and over a table, creating a large crashing noise whilst doing so.

My anger was boiling inside, Matthew seemed to be trying to harm me for no reason other than because I was on a date with Helen; which I was rather irritated at. Due to the fact he could probably cause quite a bit of harm to her if he wanted which I would not allow to happen. The rage from inside my body, and Alex's mind for he was angry at Matthew's actions, cumulated into one direct motion – stop Matthew. And so I word came unbidden to my lips, so quiet that no one except I could hear it _Thrysta._ I felt a huge surge of force come from my body and Matthew was sent flying across the room and slammed into the wall opposite before slouching on the floor. Dashing over to see if he was okay after the impact I put my hand on his neck, there was still a pulse.

_That was _too _close. _I thought which Alex nodded in silent mental agreement with. Turning around I saw that Matthew's associate was scrambling away from the wreckage of the table he had landed on, still dazed; and Helen was sat gawking at me in amazement as I stood there, now looking down at my own hands in amazement. I heard footsteps coming over and felt a hand against around my neck – it was Helen. "Erik! Are you alright? You just threw Matthew half way across the room you must have hurt your knuckles doing that!" She glanced at my hands to find them undamaged, "But…"

"I don't know… It all happened so fast."

"Yes, yes," She said reassuringly, "Let's get out of here, before he regains consciousness."

"A good idea if any," I replied, quickly dashing from the café before the owner came down to see what had caused the noise.

Once we were outside we continued walking normally out of town and back towards the park, on the opposite side of which Helen lived. We talked little, both caught up in our own thoughts as we wandered back across to where we had met on the bench before both sitting down next to each other. "This certainly has been an eventful day," I said hoping to start some conversation.

It worked, "Indeed it has. I certainly don't wish to relive what happened back… There."

I was saddened at the outcome of our date for I had been hoping it would go without a hitch. And learning that I could use magic now was certainly a shocking revelation; but not something I had hoped for in this world for it would make my life even more difficult.

I was surprised then when Helen said, "Would you like to meet up next weekend then? I've heard there's a film on at the cinema and I was wondering if you'd want to go and see it with me… You don't have to if you don't want to."

Turning her towards me and looking her in the eyes I replied, "Helen, I'd love to. Before the whole incident today we were getting on so well. To tell you the truth I think you're the prettiest girl I've ever known and I'd love to have the chance to go out with you again."

For that I received a large hug, she squeezed me for half a minute before I had to pat her back coughing, "Helen! Stop you're going to squash me!"

She released me from her embrace and looked down, slightly embarrassed. "sorry Erik."

I laughed a hearty laugh, "haha! Don't worry Helen it's perfectly fine. Well I'd best be off now, my mum will be wondering where I've got to. See you at school!"

"See you too Erik!" She called, giving me a quick hug before walking off and blowing a kiss which I smiled at as she disappeared into the distance; her beautiful red hair shining in the evening light…

Author's note: Well this chapter won't be out for a while since I've got exams starting on Monday so I probably won't be able to write… Sorry everyone. I'm still waiting for Alex to write chapter 7 =p anyway hope you're having a nice spring/summer. It's my birthday soon too but I still don't know what to get =s that's enough rambling. Peace out!


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